How Better Storytelling Generates More Revenue

Chief Executive Officer demonstrates how to best prepare and utilize storytelling to generate revenue.

Joining us on SBI TV is Jim O’Gara. And Jim is the CEO of StoryDimensions. StoryDimensions is a sales enablement technology company that captures, develops, and delivers real customer insights and stories that B2B sales professionals can use to establish credibility, earn trust, and ultimately grow revenue.

Below is a timestamped summary of the show segments and the topics covered.

Segment 1: The Role of Stories in the Sales Process & Buying Decisions

The role stories play relative to influencing buying decisions.minute 2:33

Skip to minute 4:06to listen to Jim define the role stories play in influencing the buyer’s decision making:

“Why do stories matter? And specifically customer stories? And the reality is they matter because, believe it or not, B2B buyers are humans. They actually think and behave just like all of us. Which means we use both rational and logical thought, as well as emotion in our decision making process…”

Segment 2: The Need to Provide Sellers with Insights in Order to Connect

The insights a customer story needs to have to be effective.minute 8:02

Skip to minute 8:33to watch Jim describe what makes a story meaningful:

“For a story to be meaningful, it has to be relevant. And so, at StoryDimensions we look at it from multiple dimensions, of relevancy. And the first three relevant factors of a story are what I’ll call table stakes. For you to make a connection with a buyer, your story has to pertain to them personally. Their role. So, the story should come from one of their peers.…”

Segment 3: Equipping Sellers with Insights

Where are company leaders embracing this and where are they lacking.minute 11:47

The metrics that an executive should use to show the storytelling is producing results.minute 13:55

Skip to minute 12:20to listen to Jim explain how to best equip sellers with storytelling insights:

“Just like an actor is no good without great lines, a great story teller is no good without any source material. So their leaders are forgetting the most important part. Are we serving up real insights and stories that our story tellers can use? And while every sales rep’s got their go to two to three stories that they use, their job isn’t to be script writers or story writers. They don’t have the time and that’s not what you’re paying them to do. So they’ve got to find a way to allocate some resources or partner to get those stories packaged and delivered on a consistent basis…”

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Matt Sharrers

Matt Sharrers is the CEO of SBI, a management consulting firm specialized in sales and marketing that is dedicated to helping you Make Your Number. Forbes recognizes SBI as one of The Best Management Consulting Firms in 2017.

Over the course of nearly a decade at SBI, Matt Sharrers was an instrumental early partner guiding SBI as the Senior Partner. Matt’s functional responsibilities included acting as the head of sales where he led SBI’s double-digit revenue growth, and was responsible for the hiring function to build SBI’s team of revenue generation experts.

Prior joining SBI in 2009, Matt spent eleven years leading sales and marketing team teams as a Vice President of Sales. Matt has “lived in the field.” As a result, he is the foremost expert in the art of separating fact from fiction as it relates to revenue growth best practices. CEOs and Private equity investors turn to Matt’s team at SBI when they need to unlock trapped growth inside of their companies.